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‘You know me so well.’ I sobered. ‘It’s hard being the boss. People don’t loosen up and talk freely in front of you, and everyone’s on their best behaviour. How am I supposed to make friends when I’m the boss?’
‘You make friends with other bosses,’ she suggested. ‘Like Emory and Roscoe.’
‘I don’t think I’ve endeared myself to Roscoe,’ I admitted. ‘He wasn’t terribly good about information sharing, and I slapped him down a bit for it.’
‘He’s still finding his feet as a boss, too,’ Jess pointed out. ‘Cut him some slack.’
‘That’s easier to do now that lives aren’t on the line. Before you dash off, can you do me a favour? Discreetly?’
‘Discreet favours are my bread and butter. What can I do for you?’
‘There’s a new wolf here, Thea Frost.’
‘Frost? Is she related to that asshole Ace?’
‘Yeah, the poor girl is his sister. She’s asked to transfer here.’
‘Suspicious timing.’ Jess’s eyes narrowed.
‘I need to know if she really wants to be here or she’s been sent by Beckett Frost to stir up trouble or dig into Ace’s disappearance.’
‘Most of the pack know what happened to Ace. If she joins you, how’s she going to feel about his death?’
‘I don’t know – and that’s another thing I could do with you poking into. Can you do your walking, talking, lie-detector thing, and see if I can trust the poor girl?’
‘What’s so poor about her?’
‘She’s – off. Timid. Nothing like Ace. I wonder if she’s been abused in some way.’
‘No problem. I’ll talk to her.’
‘I’ll come with you. We’ll say we’ve come to talk to Archie – he’s become quite close to Thea.’
‘Archie? Are we talking about the same insensitive nineteen year old?’ Jess sounded incredulous.
‘Yeah. He’s mellowed a little since his dad’s death. He’s a little more thoughtful.’
‘Glad to hear it, but I’m sorry it took his dad dying to transform him.’
‘Me, too. I’m sorry Lord Samuel had to die at all.’
Jess slung an arm around my shoulders gave me a squeeze. ‘I know, Luce. When we talk to Thea I’ll give a little sniff if she lies. It’ll be believable because I’ve got a cold coming on.’
‘Well, don’t sneeze at the wrong time,’ I joked.
We walked down to the pack living room. It was still early, but the room was crowded. Centre of attention, and absolutely loving it, was young Bobby.
‘You should have seen it,’ he was saying. ‘They had to go through the corridor of fire to reach the house, and then bust through a secret door. One of the kidnappers, James, tried to escape but there’s no escaping our alpha. She was after him like a shot. She chased him and pinned him down, and when he pulled a gun on her, she ripped his throat out. Blood sprayed everywhere.’ He used his hands to simulate the blood spray. Lovely.
I cleared my throat and the room fell silent. ‘Thank you for that dramatic rendition of the rescue, Bobby. We’re all incredibly happy to have you home safely. Your kidnapping has reminded us all of the dangers that we face in this realm. Together we are stronger. Tristan, I believe that you teach martial arts. Is that correct?’
Tristan nodded, a mixture of hostility and curiosity in his eyes.
‘I would like you to start training all of our pups in self-defence at whatever age you deem appropriate. The pack will compensate you for these lessons.’
Tristan brightened. ‘Yes, alpha. I think any pups over the age of four should be able to start learning defensive measures.’
Bobby gave a whoop of excitement. ‘I’m going to be the next Jackie Chan!’ He leapt up from his chair and started slashing ineffectually at the air. I winced internally; I should probably have checked with Sonia before I made that announcement. I was relieved to see that she was smiling indulgently as Bobby butchered karate.
